Penshurst Off Road Club (PORC) in the Kent countryside was the setting for the second round of the DMR Dirt Wars FMB Bronze Series last weekend. The sun was out and the riders were throwing it down big time from the word go. Despite the wind picking up, the guys didn't fail to perform and show the judges that they were in for an action-packed day.
OPEN CLASS QUALIFICATIONSFirst up were the Open riders, with 23 riders being cut down to 10, it was all to play for. Tristan Bushnell was firing off tail whips, whilst Ben Nolan was determined to pull a flip on the last jump. Unfortunately he didn't succeed. Meanwhile, Will Brock was looking super smooth riding 24” wheels and pulling sweet pendulums. Unfortunately, young Marcus Gilhooley took a bit of a crash on one of his runs and ended up dislocating his wrist and fracturing the bone - healing vibes dude!
After the 23 riders had had three runs each with their top run giving them their placing, we cut them down to 10 with Kerry Pert, Jack Ambler, Tristan Bushnell, Will Brock, Alex Greenwood, Darren Estall, Cameron Crozier, Marcel Hunt, Jack Cardy and Harry Campbell going through to the final.
PRO CLASS QUALIFICATIONSNext up the Pro riders lined up to drop in for qualifying, the line up wasn't as strong as usual, with quite a few riders being away with different commitments. With 10 riders being cut down to six for the final, they all had their game-faces on, ready to unleash their trick-bags. Ray Samson impressed the judges with his super seats and clean 3s and so did Ryan Nangle with his 7s. Daryl Brown is no stranger to PORC and showed the other riders how to pull tricks from 5ft higher than the rest.
After their three runs, the top six riders who went through, from first to last were: Ray Samson, Daryl Brown, Freddy Pullman, Tom Reynolds, Alfie Stephens and Ryan Nangle.
OPEN CLASS FINALSAfter a short lunch-break and time for the riders to chill, we went straight in to Open finals. Will Brock was unable to ride due to pulling a muscle in qualifiers, so eleventh placed Ben Nolan took Will’s spot. Harry Campbell was unable to get a clean run which is really unusual for Harry as he’s normally on a podium spot. It wasn't only Harry who was having an off day; Kerry Pert and Alex Greenwood also failed to put a run together. Ben Nolan on the other hand finally got a clean flip on the last jump as well as pulling a 3 on the mid-set which he was stoked about. Tristan was going for a triple-whip on the last jump but after being blown out by the wind on the middle jump, he settled for a single tail-whip on the last.
The top 5 runs were as follows:
1st // Place Marcel Hunt // Tuck no-hander, flat-spin to flip-bars
2nd // Cameron Crozier // Flip, truck, flip-bars
3rd // Jack Ambler // Flip, nothing can, flip-bar to x-up
4th // Darren Estall // Flip x-up, tuck to x-up, truck
5th // Jack Cardy // Tuck, 3table, cork flip
PRO CLASS FINALSWith the Open riders done and dusted, it was on to the Pro Final where the top six riders would battle it out for first place. After three runs each of tail whips, flip whips, 7s and a whole bunch of other acrobatics, the six were placed into position and the six top runs went as follows:
1st // Freddy Pullman // Truck, flip-bar to tuck, front-flip
2nd // Daryl Brown // Double truck to x-up, 3-tuck, one-handed super-seat
3rd // Ryan Nangle // Flip-whip, tail-whip, 720
4th // Ray Samson // Tail-whip, flip-whip, super-flip
5th // Alfie Stephens // Double tail-whip, tuck no-hander, 3-whip
6th // Tom Reynolds // One foot table, tail-whip, tuck no-hander
Well done to all who rode.
Other moments from the day were Tom Reynolds' frontie on the first jump, to tail-whip on the second but then had to ditch at the third. Jack Amblers nothing to bars. Ben Nolans turbo flips and Daryl Brown's amplitude, and Marcel Hunt's super dumped 3s.
Massive thank you to all our Riders, Sponsors, Crew and Spectators for such an awesome day. The next round is at The NASS Festival on 10 July.
MENTIONS: @DirtWarsUK /
@dmrbikes /
@FMBA
(Those there may remember me as the quiet dude in the royal MTB gear lol - I didn't want to disturb and interesting listening in on thoughts of riders/skills/etc).
PORC is an amazing place for free ride and dirt jump and the owner mike is a too chap!
Great event, had a real good time and the atmosphere was good, hopefully I'll be good enough to enter next year.
Keep up the good work Dirt Wars and PORC